http://information.travel.aol.com/features/family?ncid=AOLCOMMtravDYNLprim0113 I'm a certified roller coaster freak, I saw this story and figured it just deserved a place here. I haven't heard about this first one they're talking about, but where it says "up next, Top Thrill Dragster," I KNOW about that one. That's one of Cedar Point's newer, and more infamous coasters, a real soil-yourself-if-you're-not-careful thrill experience. Ahhh, Cedar Point. A Detroit summer experience, even if it is in Sandusky, Ohio, on the shores of Lake Erie. If you love amusement parks, it is simply a place not to be missed. And, no, I have not ventured onto Top Thrill Dragster, one look at that sucker the last time I WAS at Cedar Point was enough to make me question my own sanity had I dared to venture onto it. Shelby, my oldest, and most notably fearless, just about had a meltdown after riding the Gemini, one of my personal favorites, but probably one of the only wooden coasters left in all of creation. I did the "good parent" (I guess,) thing, and told her I was proud of her having gone on it and experienced it, even if she didn't like it. I can't remember if she actually rode it again after that, but I think once was probably enough.
http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/park/rides/coasters/index.cfm
To see what we in Michigan affectionately refer to as "The Roller Coast," click above so you'll see the kind of action I'm talking about. Summer in Detroit........it's one of those things I'm happy to be back for; I just don't think the Koreans really could have measured up like this. Although, come to think, my favorite amusement ride was one of the ones at Detroit's (well, okay, Windsor's,) Bob-Lo Island, now, sadly, long defunct. The Rotor was one where you entered the ride through a side door, and stood up against the wall. After the door closed, said walls started spinning, fast enough that you were stuck in place by centrifugal force, spinning in every direction, while the floor started coming out from under you. Now THAT was a ride! Some would perhaps refer to it as a recipe for a gastro-intestinal disaster, but that all depended on how you timed lunch, I guess. Anyway, amusement parks always have been those most American of joys, kinda like Chuck Berry when he sings "Living in the U.S.A." It still doesn't excuse everything that we ARE in the U.S.A., but suffice to say, we're not a country without it's charms, thank God.
I also got the message from my Cardio this week that my cholesterol is back under control for the most part, (200, to be exact,) even though he still wants to take me off the generic and put me on Vytorin. We'll see how the insurance (and the body,) respond to that. I am happy for that. Once again, today, I was in a special-ed classroom, this time ensconced in utterly-normal-and-totally-rural Dexter High School in Dexter, MI. I was a little disgusted at the reactions of the "normal" kids, whose response to their classmates was, dare I say it, for whatever they were, despite the fact that they couldn't really help who they are, acted as though these special-needs kids were afflicted with some sort of contagion. If you know a middle schooler or high school student predisposed to such an attitude, make them realize, however you need do so, how lucky they really are to be able to know what they know and be considered something other than a sideshow freak. It matters.